With a presence in more than 100 countries across four continents, 3D scanning provider 3Shape is on its way to revolutionize dentistry.
By Morten Andersen
“We may have had two decades of growth and global expansion, but somehow I still feel like I am working in a start-up company!” Trained in Design & Innovation engineering at DTU, Nina Pytter Laursen is a UX Manager at 3Shape. UX is for “user experience”.
“My job function is to bridge the needs and experiences of dentists and patients with the ideas that our skilled engineers and computer scientists come up with. Sometimes the innovators will have a really cool fancy idea, but the users just want to have some down-to-earth problem solved. For example, the way a patient’s birthdate should be entered in the software wasn’t quite logical. This may seem like a small problem, but since our users encounter it every time a patient visits the clinic it will certainly become annoying.”
Going from analogous to digital
To Digital Tech Summit participants, it will hardly be surprising to hear that 3D scanning is better than the traditional molding of patient’s teeth. The digital solution is not just way faster – and thereby saving resources - it is also significantly more accurate. Still, this does not automatically translate into dentists wanting to purchase 3Shape products:
“There is a lot of craftmanship to dentistry, and it is quite a leap for a dentist to move from analogous to digital. We really need to make dentists feel confident that we have their back, until they are up and running with 3D scanning,” Nina Pytter Laursen explains.
Founded in 2000, 3Shape originally had other applications of 3D scanning in mind. The first 3D scanner for dental applications, launched in 2005, did however prove highly successful, and the young company chose to focus on this niche. Today, 3Shape has more than 1,600 employees and a presence in more than 100 countries across four continents.
The spirit of entrepreneurship lives on
The primary reason for attending Digital Tech Summit is potential recruitment.
“We realize that we are relatively unknown in comparison with other innovative companies of the same size. This partly has to do with the fact that you don’t necessarily meet our products. Our 3D scanners are not found at any dental clinic. Not yet at least! Furthermore, we have a strong focus on exports.”
A secondary motivation is engaging with researchers and students from universities and getting inspired by other companies.
“For instance, engaging with students on concrete projects is fruitful. We have a strong focus on innovation internally – actually involving all employees – but students often come in with out-of-the-box ideas and may be able to dedicate enough time to make a difference. And who knows, maybe they can come work for us later,” says Nina Pytter Laursen, continuing:
“Working with students somehow gives you more freedom, not least mentally, and helps you to avoid being too caught up in your daily tasks. It is a defining feature for 3Shape, that even though the company is a full-grown success story today, the spirit of entrepreneurship continues to thrive!”
